During the Warring States period, the noble Tian Wen of Qi inherited his father Tian Ying's title and was enfeoffed at Xue (in present-day southeastern Teng County, Shandong), becoming known as Lord Xue and styled Lord Mengchang. Generous and hospitable, he welcomed all who came to him, regardless of their talent or reputation, and housed them all. As a result, the number of retainers swelled, eventually reaching as many as three thousand.
Lord Mengchang, known for his humility toward talented men and his vast recruitment of capable advisors, saw his reputation soar until the King of Qi appointed him as prime minister. King Zhao of Qin, admiring Mengchang's fame, specially sent envoys to Qi to invite him to Qin. Mengchang agreed and journeyed to the Qin capital of Xianyang with many of his retainers to pay homage to King Zhao.
Lord Mengchang presented the King of Qin with many gifts, the most precious being a pure white fox-fur coat worth a thousand gold pieces and unmatched in the world. The delighted king ordered his attendants to store it carefully, planning to wear it for warmth in winter.
The King of Qin admired Lord Mengchang's talents and soon appointed him as prime minister, but jealous ministers warned the king, "Lord Mengchang may be capable, but he is a noble of Qi—he will surely prioritize Qi's interests over Qin's, making him a danger to our state!"
After hearing this, the King of Qin found it very reasonable and couldn't help growing anxious, asking, "What should be done then? Should he be sent back to the State of Qi?"
The ministers warned the King of Qin, "Now that Lord Mengchang knows everything about Qin, letting him return to Qi will surely bring disaster. It would be better to kill him." The king hesitated, unable to decide, and ordered Lord Mengchang placed under house arrest.
While Lord Mengchang was still puzzling over why the King of Qin had placed him under house arrest, the king's younger brother, Lord Jingyang, secretly came to visit him. Lord Jingyang had once been sent as a hostage to the State of Qi, where Mengchang had treated him kindly. Now, learning that the king's attitude toward Mengchang had soured, he immediately came to deliver the news and suggested, "Lady Yan is the king's most beloved consort, and he heeds her words above all others. If she could speak well of you before the king and persuade him to let you return home, that would be your salvation."
Lord Mengchang finally learned why he was under house arrest. He immediately took out a pair of fine white jade discs and asked Prince Jingyang to present them to Lady Yan, requesting her intercession. To his surprise, Lady Yan declined the jade, saying she wanted his white fox fur coat instead. Only with that coat would she agree to plead for him.
This put Lord Mengchang in a bind: he only had one white fox fur coat, and he had already presented it to the King of Qin. What could he do? He discussed this thorny problem with his retainers for a long time, but no one knew how to solve it. Finally, a retainer seated at the lowest rank spoke up: "Let me go into the palace and steal back the white fox fur coat we gave the king earlier!"
“How will you steal it?” Lord Mengchang asked. “I will disguise myself as a dog to steal it.”
Lord Mengchang, desperate for rescue, immediately agreed and ordered this retainer to enter the palace that very night to carry out the mission.
In the dead of night, this retainer, clad in black, crawled through a dog hole into the Qin palace. At any sound, he barked like a dog, fooling the guards. He then slipped into the wardrobe and stole the fox-fur coat.
After receiving the fox-fur coat, Lady Yan Ji was overjoyed. Seizing the moment when the King of Qin was slightly drunk, she spoke up: "I have long heard that Lord Mengchang is a man of great talent, respected by all the states. Your Majesty invited him to Qin with great admiration and appointed him as chancellor. Now that you no longer wish to employ him, simply letting him return to his own state would be enough. Why imprison him and even plan to have him killed? If Your Majesty acts this way, what worthy scholar from across the realm would ever dare to come to Qin in the future?"
Convinced by Lady Yan Ji's reasoning, the King of Qin immediately issued a travel pass and ordered a carriage prepared, allowing Lord Mengchang to return to his home state.
Lord Mengchang, fearing the King of Qin might change his mind, fled with his retainers to the Hangu Pass at the Qin border under cover of night. Desperate to escape before pursuers arrived, he found the gates sealed tight—by Qin law, they would not open until cockcrow.
At that moment, a guest seated at the lower end came up with a plan: pursing his lips, he imitated the crow of a rooster. His continuous calls drew nearby roosters into chorus. The gate guards, hearing the crowing, assumed dawn was near, inspected the travel documents, and allowed Lord Mengchang and his party to pass through the city gate.
The King of Qin soon regretted his decision and sent riders racing after Mengchangjun, but by the time they reached Hangu Pass, Mengchangjun and his party had already slipped through the pass and were long gone.
Helping Lord Mengchang escape by pretending to be a dog to steal and a rooster to crow were lowly skills. Later, people used "dog-stealing and rooster-crowing" to describe insignificant abilities or petty tricks.
Source: *Records of the Grand Historian*, "Biography of Lord Mengchang"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "鸡鸣狗盗" came to describe insignificant abilities or petty tricks.